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February 11, 2012
 
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Note: Saturday Night Live doesn't really want you to shoot anyone

by Bob Sassone, posted Oct 8th 2008 1:06PM

SNLWhen I watched the Nancy Pelosi/President Bush/Barney Frank bailout sketch on last Saturday's Saturday Night Live, I had no idea that one of the couples featured in the sketch (played by Darrell Hammond and Casey Wilson) was actually based on a real-life couple, and now that couple is angry at how they were portrayed. And by "portrayed" I mean that SNL putting up the words "People That Should Be Shot" on the screen while the couple was talking.

NBC has edited the segment (which you can see at the link above) so that the words no longer appear on the screen. In fact, in this new edited version, you can actually hear the audience laugh at the on-screen joke, even though nothing appears there now.

Knowing that they used the name of the couple irritates the hell out of me. I don't see how the show could actually think that doing what they did would be OK.

As someone from Massachusetts though, I will say I laughed at the way Fred Armisen portrayed Frank, even if he did play him, um, handicapped. It's one of those impressions where he doesn't even have to open his mouth, you start laughing even when he's just standing off to the side because you know what's coming.

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Melody Warbington

Even Democrats are blaming Dems for the financial mess. Dennis Kucinich said recently, "The Democrats have unfortunately become so enamored and beholden to Wall Street that we are not functioning to defend the economic interest of the broad base of the American people. It was up to the Republicans to protect not just a so-called free market but the American taxpayer and attempt to block this. This is an outrage. This was democracy's Black Friday." Read his entire speech at
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081006_dennis_kucinich_on_the_democrats_bailout_betrayal/

As of this morning, you can watch the unedited version of the SNL skit at http://www.snlbailout.cx/edit.html



October 09 2008 at 2:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jordancda

They edited out more than the the image overlay. They also edited out when Herb Sanders says thank you to Barney Frank for blocking the attempts to regulate Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac or something like that. I compared the two videos.

October 08 2008 at 9:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joel

Bob, I am finding myself in the awkward position of agreeing with you... strange feeling. I read your post earlier about Elizabeth Hasselbeck and now this one... what has gotten in to you? You are sounding down right rational lately. Or is there something wrong with me?

October 08 2008 at 6:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Joel's comment
StillBash

No you are fine. It's Bob. It's the time of the month. I call it "vicious cycle" ^^;

He comes up with this stuff now and then and I find myself agreeing and feel dirty afterwards.

October 08 2008 at 8:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Nathaniel

Question: was this skit based on a real press conference or did it throw together some ideas into a fake one?

October 08 2008 at 5:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Patrick

Bob... the part you're missing about the couple SNL portrayed (Herb and Marion Sander) is that... they actually did rip off people to the tune of millions of dollars. They are no angels. Their corporate greed helped cause the fiasco that has cost trillions of dollars from real people's retirement funds.

Oh... and like George Soros (also depicted) they are huge democrat fund raisers and donors. They used their money to help start Moveon.org and Media Matters. All far left organizations.

Should SNL have run the "These people should be shot" across the actors during the skit? Probably not. But then again I'm still waiting for SNL... Letterman... Leno... Stewert and Colbert to find anything... ANYTHING they can make fun of or ridicule about Obama.

ANYTHING!
Toss us a freakin' bone... His name... his terrorist pals... Reverend Wright... his smoking cigerettes... ANY frekin' THING!!??!!

October 08 2008 at 3:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Patrick's comment
Joey Geraci

Uhm... you obviously don't watch the Daily Show, or the Colbert Report. Obama and ball-less Democrats get ridiculed all the time. Not as much as Republicans, but then again, the Republican Party was practically concieved as a source of comedy and mockery. The Democratic Party, which, at its core, is trying to deal with the real problems at the center of this country, just isn't as funny.

October 08 2008 at 6:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sy

Here is a few points the sketch is trying to get out:

1. Democrats are for low income people to own houses, thus the subprime loans.
2. Government pressured and forced financial institutions to accept such loans.
3. Interest rate increased. Gas Priced increased. Unemployment increased. Low income people can't afford mortgage anymore.
4. Bush 5 years ago urged for a regulatory commission for Fanny Mae/Freddy Mac. Democrats resisted.
5. Freddie Mac an Fannie Mae collapsed.
6. Financial institutions collapsed.
7. Democrats blamed Bush

October 08 2008 at 3:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Sy's comment
Eric

Well put

October 08 2008 at 3:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joey Geraci

You do know how incredibly wrong your description of events is, right? Independent companies pushed the subprime loans, which were approved by people who had no idea what they were doing, and basically approved the loan if they felt like it. These unbelievable junk loans were packaged into securities that the rating agencies said were AAA, and were cut up and sold all across the world. The Democrats certainly didn't see this coming before they came into the majority (they did try to put forward some reforms in 2006 but were pushed back by Republicans and some conservative members of their caucus), and they did ignore the Bush Administration in 2005, as did everybody else.

People couldn't afford the loans anymore because they suddenly had to start paying back the principal + huge amounts of interest.

The fact is that Bush probably isn't directly responsible for this current fiscal crisis, but Republicans in general certainly are, along with their nominee, John McCain. They pushed for deregulation for decades (along with some Democrats, but mostly Republicans), and that is ultimately what was responsible for this mess. People took advantage of the loose rules and went wild. We are all paying for Reagonomics, and the "Free Market above all else", that the Republicans embraced.

October 08 2008 at 6:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
No1Dad

"Knowing that they used the name of the couple irritates the hell out of me. I don't see how the show could actually think that doing what they did would be OK."

So let's get this straight. It's okay for SNL to insinuate that Todd Palin is having incest with his teenager daughter, but make fun of a couple of fat-cat lobbyists and it's time for an official freak out?

October 08 2008 at 2:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to No1Dad's comment
Eugene

Well, if you think that Americans are so incredibly stupid as to not understand what satire is and think that just because they saw something on the TV they'll run out and do it... then yes, ordering people to shoot fat cats is obviously worse than time after time laying into the Palin family.

October 08 2008 at 2:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eugene

Barney Frank? One of the smartest guys in washington? LOL, if that were true it would explain so very much why we're in the mess we're in today.

October 08 2008 at 2:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
6 replies to Eugene's comment
Scott

Sure, because making fun of a speech impediment of one of the smartest guys in Washington is always good for a cheap laugh.

October 08 2008 at 1:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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